Blackberry Winter
by Fist-it-Out
Summary: I was once a slightly peppy, much happier kid. I had real friends and dealt with my teenage bullshit like any other fourteen year old. I wasn't exposed to the world of mythology, gods and goddesses, monsters and family feuds. I wasn't faced with the problems I am now—having to chose between my own sanity and these people I barely know to sacrafice to some psychopath.
1. the beginning

**A/N: You all knew this was coming. A Zombies demigod au! I've been planning this out all summer. I'm so excited for this. Some details to note: there's no actual Zombies in this story, but the characters are kinda the same. Some of them are OoC because being a demigod kinda sucks.**

* * *

Look, you know those gods you learn about in middle school? Well, they're real. They're the reason why I'm standing on the edge of a cliff, about to sacrifice my 'friends' or myself to the choppy, icy waters below and jagged rocks. Sound insane? Well it's because it is. I'm living it and _I_ hardly believe it.

Okay okay, let me start from the beginning.

My name is Addison. I'm fourteen years old. Am I a troubled kid? That's one way to put it.

My adoptive mother says it stems from my freakish genes. Oh yeah, I've got this pristine white hair color. It's kinda silvery, kinda metallic. All freaky. I do what I can to hide it—cut it as short as possible and cover it with a wig. I would dye it, but it takes _a lot_ of hair dye to change the color and I can't bring any dye on campus at my boarding school.

There's that too. After they adopted me, they shipped me off to boarding school so I wouldn't be their problem. I know, I know, terrible parenting. But they wanted a chubby, white, baby girl with big blue eyes. If they could return me they would, but it'd ruin their reputation as the 'perfect family'.

I think my problematic behavior has to do with my string of bad luck. Usually I don't believe in that kind of bullshit, but it's the only explanation I've got right now.

I've been dismissed from more schools than I can count on both hands. There were four preschools in New Hampshire, eight elementary schools in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, and six middle schools between Maryland, Maine, and New York. I hadn't been dismissed from my current school—Young Women's Wilderness School - Northeast—before my life went to complete hell.

I had been labeled as a kleptomaniac, kicked out for stealing, arrest charges, and messing with the wrong crowds. A bunch of bullshit like that. It was easier to get what I wanted when I was small and cute. Now I was a 'delinquent teenager', according to my parole officer and guidance counselor and parents.

They all blamed it on my ADHD, which is attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder. Sprinkle in some dyslexia and a healthy dose of being told you were flawed and messed up. And you've got yourself a delinquent teenager.

For a full record of all the terrible, no good things I've done, you see my official police records. But to name a few, there's stealing things like candy, clothes, money, bedsheets, toys, hair accessories, tablets and smartphones, and small pets. It's really easy to do, especially considering when they'd ask if I paid I'd say yes and they believed me. From school, I've convinced teachers to swap my name with a smarter kid's so it looked like I did great (which apparently counts as cheating), taken several hundred dollars from several different teachers, started five fires (two on accident), caused one girl to nearly drown to death (I was four so I only went in for a psychological evaluation), and nearly started three different gang wars on school property.

There was probably more, considering I don't remember what I did to get dismissed from four preschools. All I can tell you was that most of those things weren't my fault. Now I wasn't necessarily blaming other people, but you got to remember I'm a 'troubled' kid. All those years of being verbally abused about my hair, which was treated with the level of serious as…Elsa and hiding her snow magic, you can't really blame me.

But that's besides the point. You don't want to hear about my sob story of a childhood, you want to hear about how and why I'm about to sacrifice these kids I barely know to some psycho. And in order to start from the beginning, I must get into that mindset. Back then I was a slightly peppy, much happier kid. I had real friends and dealt with my teenage bullshit like any other fourteen year old. I wasn't exposed to the world of mythology, gods and goddesses, monsters and family feuds.


	2. it started in january

It was January.

We had gotten back to school from winter break a few weeks before. After break means second semester roommates. Mine was this girl I'd seen a few times in classes and around school named Bree. Aside from our regular uniform of khakis and polo shirts, Bree wore lots of bright colors and _lots_ of glitter. When I came in for move-in there was glitter _everywhere_.

She decorates her shoes with puff paint and glitter. It's fine, though, because she's very peppy. Why is she in the school for bad children? She's got a really bad case of ADHD. Worse than mine, or anyone if ever seen. Her train of thought is a mess, so it's hard to keep up with what she's saying. It's one of my favorite things about her, actually.

I got lucky with Bree. There are some pretty horrible girls at my Wilderness School—kids from juvie, potential runaways, kids like me with 'stealing problems'. There were people like the Aceys—these two girls named Lacey and Stacey who were the biggest jerks around.

Everything had to be their way. They once pushed this girl down the stairs because she had the same hairstyle as Lacey that day, and it was just French braids. And they got away with _everything_ , considering their parents were loaded.

No good story wouldn't be fit without the school's biggest dicks constantly targeting the beautiful (and humble) protagonist—that's me.

The Aceys and I don't get along. It had started when I had charmed Stacey's brother into my open arms and dated him for three and a half days. In those three and a half days, he bought me flowers and chocolates and gifts, basically blowing through his allowance for the week. We broke up on mutual terms, but in all actuality it was like he just wasn't into me anymore. To be fair I don't think he was into me ever. I mean yeah, I'll admit that I'm kinda cute. And apparently I have a way with words, because he told Stacey that I had hypnotized him into dating me.

Shit's wild out here.

Aside from Bree and the Aceys, I don't really talk to many other people. Sometimes I talk to my old roommate, but considering she was a junior I don't see her often.

The first day of classes for the second semester was as strange as ever. A handful of girls—myself and Bree included—were selected for an advanced artistic design class held by a former student who attended Cornell University in the architecture program. And by the grace of god, the Aceys were there too.

Madam Chase was…she was a character. She made it clear on her first day that it wasn't just an elective and that we were selected because we were the most promising students. I didn't believe any of that, considering my lunch period was spent in lunch detention and where I was reprimanded and told how much failure Madam Simmons saw in my future.

I didn't even want to be an architect. But when I tried to transfer back to my previous elective, I was sent to the headmaster's office, where she told me that I couldn't leave and to make it worth my while.

Madam Chase's class sucked ass. But it didn't take long to learn that, even though architecture was incredibly boring, Madam Chase was actually kind of fun. She only came in from one until four and then had to leave because she was still in school, and when she wasn't teaching she was being the coolest teacher ever. Sometimes even her class was fun.

It was one of those fun days where our story begins. Madam Chase took us into the city to view the architectural styles of ancient civilization at the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art. She knew a lot about the artifacts we weren't even focusing on, especially in the Greek and Roman areas. It was probably the Cornell student in her.

Madam Chase was just wasting her breath. We all learned about the Greek and Roman gods in middle school. We didn't care then, and we still didn't care when she was just repeating it. Even if she was saying things we'd never heard of, like Hades being a good guy, Zeus almighty being a huge dick (that one she muttered under her breath). Stuff like that. Oh, and the way she clenched up and went red when we got to the Hera and Juno exhibits. It was like the gods had wronged her, even though they aren't even real.

Even though it was a boring field trip, it was still better than going to classes all day, like everyday. And Madam Chase was great with handling thirteen troubled girls. She never yelled at us and mostly just gave us a few loose instructions that weren't hard to follow.

Things took a turn for the worse when we were in the gift shop. I only went with eleven or so dollars, considering I didn't want to blow all my money in one place. And I had a way with cashiers to get everything I wanted for the price of one really cheap chocolate bar.

Bree didn't come with any money and just gushed over all the souvenirs. She was so adorable and sweet, it was hard not to want to buy her the world. So when she wasn't around, I grabbed her an 'I heart NYC' bag and hat, as well as a few trinkets for myself and some candy (because duh) and headed for the register.

I smiled my best, most polite smile at the cashier. "Good afternoon, Ma'am," I greeted. Everyone _loved_ when people were polite.

The cashier—Joyce—smiled happily. "Good afternoon to you too," she said. "What can I help you with today?"

I placed my goods on the counter. "I'll just be taking these," I stated.

Joyce blinked once, then nodded along. "I'll just bag them for you them."

"That'd be splendid, thank you," I thanked.

Joyce just smiled and put the items in a bag. "I'll take that," I stated, leaning over the counter to grab the bag by it's little handle. "Thanks for your time."

I made it to the doors before Joyce the Cashier realized her mistake. She called after me and I ran, darting through the doors and making a pit stop to grab my backpack from against the glass. I ran out the front doors and rushed down the steps, hiding behind the pillars at the bottom of the stairs. Quickly I ripped off the price tags and stuffed the items in my bag. As casually as I could, I moved around the pillar and sat down on the steps, pulling out my lunch and pretending to be there the whole time.

My plan worked, for the most part. A few girls in my class joined me for my impromptu lunch. Eventually Madam Chase joined us, and it was the end of that.

Except for the part when we were boarding the bus and Joyce the Cashier came over with a security guard. She pointed at me and said, "There's the girl that robbed the gift shop," she stated.

Madam Chase raised an eyebrow at that. "You robbed a gift shop?" she asked me.

"No," I lied easily.

"I saw her with my own two eyes," Joyce the Cashier stated furiously.

"How'd she do it?" Madam Chase asked. "My girls didn't bring their backpacks inside, I made sure of it."

I gave Joyce the Cashier a smug smile. Madam Chase went on. "Do you have videographic evidence? Or is it your word against hers?"

"She's a thieving child—"

" _She_ is my student," Madam Chase interrupted. "Now please, we are due back to campus within the next four hours, and cannot be late."

"Ma'am," the security guard asked. "If you don't mind, we'd like to check her bag to be sure."

"Addison, could you hand over your backpack please?" Madam Chase asked.

I quenched my nerves and nodded, slipping my backpack off my shoulders and passing it to the guard. It only had two pockets, the small one always empty except for a few pens. The big pocket had my notebook as well as the plastic bag filled with all the items I stole.

"Aha!" Joyce the Cashier exclaimed.

"I bought those, Madam Chase," I stated. It was another lie, but as long as there was no video of me running out, there was no way to prove that I actually stole anything.

"Do you have a receipt?" the guard asked.

I shook my head. "I gave the money, then she gave me my change," I explained. "Then I had to go because it was lunch time and I didn't want to miss my chance to eat."

The guard offered my bag to Madam Chase. "Sorry for the inconvenience, she's a problem one."

"You'll believe my word over some kid's?"

"Do you have any evidence?" Madam Chase asked. "Or are you going to accuse my students of crimes they did not commit?"

She handed me my bag and said, "Go take your seat, Addison."

I climbed onto the bus and took my seat beside Bree, giving her a stupid grin. A few minutes later, Madam Chase came into the bus and sat in the seat adjacent to mine, and we were back on the road to campus.

"Did you steal from the gift shop, Addison?"

I shook my head once.

"I know you're lying to me," she stated. "Just make sure the next time you attempt to rob a place of business, it's not under my watch."

"You stole something?" Bree asked in disbelief.

"I don't know what you're talking about," I said to Madam Chase.

Madam Chase opened her mouth to say something when the bus came to a screeching halt, and then promptly started shaking violently. Madam Chase mutter angrily in another language. I on the other hand grabbed the seat in front of me, trying to steady myself from the shaking bus. It felt like we were in some kind of earthquake, except there was some strange and foreign growling coming from outside the bus.

"Okay everyone," Madam Chase said, surprisingly calm. "Emergency exits, go now."

The girls in the back forced open the backdrop and stumbled out. Their cries were evident over the shaking and the growling and the crazed horns and traffic. The few in the front managed to get out the main doors, along with the bus driver. Madam Chase and five of us in the middle were left with the seat exits and the ceiling.

The entire middle was crushed in a snap of a second. I barely heard everyone else's screams over my own, feeling the space of the bus shrink and myself being thrown back. The glass in the windows shattered and the bus turned over several times. I could barely hear my own screams over the pounding and grinding of metal, the blood pounding in my ears, and the sound of several bodies being thrown around.

The bus was still rolling but I was violently thrown from it and onto the pavement. Every muscle in my body ached, every bone felt like it was broken. It took me a second to recenter my focus. My ears were ringing and I could barely move. Yet I managed to sit up and squint through the haze.

There was a hoard of demonic, winged ladies with metal limbs. Some were dressed as cheerleaders, some as skimpy waitresses. They were all swarming and attacking the bus, using some hidden strength to destroy it.

Then they all looked at me like I murdered their family. "There she is," one of the cheerleaders hissed.

It's hard to believe I didn't see it coming when they charged at me, all deformed and disfigured and terrifying. I sat their frozen in fear, but they soared over me, all landed behind and around me. I turned around to see Madam Chase holding a white, shining sword, with her stern teacher face on.

I honestly have no idea what drugs I was on, but I officially lost it there.

It was all a blur, Madam Chase fighting off those monsters one by one while firing insults at them back in forth. There was fire and screeching and so many severed limbs. In my drug-induced state, I saw Bree join the fight. She was using a golden sword and killing them off with blinding lights.

It was all very…there's no other way to say it but strange.

* * *

 **A/N: WOW, one chapter in and there's already a monster attack. But it's all good, because the glorious Annabeth Chase is here to save the day! Listen, I didn't even have to do any research about empousa (the monsters mentioned in this chapter). For some reason I remembered exactly how they look and what they were like.**

 **And please, if you understand what I'm talking about, let me know. My Percy Jackson references will not end here. And of course, Percy makes a tiny appearance next chapter. And let me know what you think!**


	3. our sprout of luck runs out

I must have fainted from all the overwhelming sense, because I opened my eyes and I was back on campus in the infirmary.

According to the nurse, we were in a major crash while leaving the Met. I was on strict bedrest, considering how banged up I had been (head injury, bruised bones and lots of scratches and open wounds). If you think I actually listened to that you're insane.

There's a twenty minute period during the seven o'clock hour when the nurses are switching shifts. It was the perfect opportunity to break out. It was a lot harder considering how much pain I was in. I did managed to sneak out and get to my room.

I had barely cracked the door open when I heard voices. It wasn't hard to recognize Bree, considering she lived there and had every right to be in our room. But on further investigation (me looking into the room while trying to stay hidden), I saw that the other person in the room was Madam Chase.

"We got so lucky, Bree," Madam Chase stated. "The Mist usually doesn't work in my favor."

"It's good luck that Addison pissed off that employee," Bree joked.

Madam Chase chuckled lightly. "Tomorrow, in class, I'll try to see if anyone saw what actually happened."

"Doubtful," Bree stated. "If anyone did, they'd probably mark it down as a crazy dream."

Madam Chase sighed thoughtfully. "I should call Percy. Tell him I'll be home late and shit."

"And about the trip?"

"That's the shit I was referring to."

Bree laughed. Madam Chase got off the desk chair and went into our bathroom and Bree followed her. I took this as my opportunity to go inside.

Leaning against my bed were the two weapons I saw in my dream. The golden one looked a lot more bronze than anything now. It was incredibly sharp, and when I lifted it I could hear it cut through the air. I put down the sword, knowing better than to touch a weapon that didn't belong to me. A very shiny, tempting weapon.

Instead I moved to the bathroom. I looked through the crack in the door, seeing Bree holding what looked like a beam of light through the shower mist. And even stranger, there was a blurry image of a grown man with messy dark hair in the spray.

I couldn't believe my eyes. It was like I was still dreaming, but with the amount of pain I was in there was no way this couldn't be real.

I could only pick up some of the conversation. It's like Madam Chase was retelling my dream to the man in the mist. She seemed a little stressed out about it. "Most of the girls have marked it off as a car accident, thanks to the Mist, but I'm worried that some of them might have seen something," Madam Chase stated.

"Why would anyone think it was a car accident?" the man asked.

"One of my students pissed off an employee, who's apparently insane and unstable," Madam Chase shrugged. "Worked out good for me, at least."

"The Met is cursed, Wise Girl. I've been telling you for years."

"Shut up," Madam Chase stated (jokingly, I'm guessing). "I have to go deal with damage control. I'll stay here for the night, come home tomorrow afternoon maybe."

"Okay," he said. "Stay safe. Give Bree some ambrosia or something, she's worked hard."

"Goodbye, Seaweed Brain."

I turned and ran out the room, letting the door close behind me as I ran back to the infirmary. If everything I'd seen were true, then I _did not_ want to get on Madam Chase's bad side. She wielded her sword like a master, slicing those demons like it was second nature.

* * *

As the weeks went on, I got more and more distracted. I couldn't shake the thought that something wasn't right with Madam Chase and with Bree. But with the way Bree talked about literally _everything_ , there was no way she could be hiding anything.

I started slacking off in my classes. The Aceys would mock me and make my life a living nightmare.

It was February when another demonic creature showed up at school. Obviously I was in Madam Chase's class, because things always went wrong there. I had dozed off, the drone of arcs and all that bullshit lulling me to sleep.

I haven't dreamed since I was a small child, so when I started dreaming I immediately knew something was up. The first thing I saw was a grassy hill with a giant tree on top. There was what looked like a dragon wrapped around the base, just chilling.

Weird.

My view made its way over the hill into what appeared to be a strawberry farm. And behind it, what looked like a summer camp. The man from the shower mist was in the midst of talking to a centaur.

"Annabeth is upstate, she should be safer there," the centaur said. "There's a demigod with her, you said?"

"She thinks there might be another one, who hasn't been claimed and doesn't even know," the dark haired man said. "Kleptomaniac, she's labeled as."

"Hm," the centaur said thoughtfully. "Let Annabeth know to look into it more."

"The celestial bronze test?"

"Dear gods," the centaur groaned. "That's so dangerous, Percy."

"It weens out the clear sighted mortals and the demigods."

Before I could pick up anything else, my vision tunneled and I was free falling in the sky, heading straight for an inferno instead of the ground.

I couldn't stop the scream from leaving my mouth and shot up in my desk. I would've fallen backwards if Bree didn't grab my chair. Everyone was staring at me like I was crazy.

"Someone's gone psycho," Lacey stage whispered to Stacey.

"I guess they don't have mental health insurance at the foster home," Stacey said.

I turned around angrily. "Shut up you stupid, annoying, insane bitches," I hissed at them.

"Addison!" Madam Chase reprimanded.

I ignored her and stood up. I marched up to the Aceys, glowering at them. I couldn't believe that now I was snapping, that this was the moment that all their snide comments and unbelievable unlikeness got to me to the point of breaking.

"I cannot stand your scrunched up judging faces, and your know-it-all smirks. I hate everything about you both. I wish you'd just go back to the dark and wet hole you crawled out of and _never_ come back."

"Addison that is enough," Madam Chase stated sternly.

I didn't turn around or stop, holding my glare with the Aceys.

Less than three seconds. Three seconds before Madam Chase was standing at the table, glowering at me. "Addison, return to your seat. _Now_."

I didn't break eye contact with the Aceys. After another tense minute, Madam Chase said in a demanding voice, "Lacey and Stacey, I think you're overdue a visit to the headmaster's office."

"But that's not fair!"

"I don't want to hear it," Madam Chase stated. "Go now."

I couldn't help but give them a smug smile. They got up begrudgingly and left in the same manor. "Don't think I'm done with you," Madam Chase told me. "Outside, right now."

I dragged my feet to the classroom door and walked out, letting it close behind me. Madam Chase came out a minute later, her arms folded and her 'stern-teacher-face'.

"That was very out of line, Addison," she stated. "First you're sleeping in my class and next you're running on a tangent, insulting your peers and disregarding my instructions. This is means for suspension. Even…even expulsion."

At that moment, I lost all smugness. This was the last school in the state that's except me. If I got expelled here, I'd probably have to move to Minnesota or something in the Midwest. I'd been through as many northeastern schools that'd accept me, there was no more after this.

"Of course, I can only suggest punishments," Madam Chase went on. "All decisions will come from the headmaster."

"Madam Chase, yo-you can't expel me," I begged. "I'll do better, I swear. Just don't expel me."

Madam Chase just sighed defeatedly. "I've been giving you countless chances, Addison. You've been in my class for nine weeks and yet it feels like it's been years of back and forth. You never listen or do your own homework. For the first week you came unprepared everyday. I've already exhausted favors with you."

I was on the verge of tears. Then I remembered overhearing my parents talking about giving me back once. I didn't want to go back. They'd already spent so much money trying to make me right, to make me pretty and smart and well behaved and perfect and I always managed to fuck it up.

"Just one more chance, please," I begged.

"You're out of chances, Addison," Madam Chase stated. "Go on ahead to Headmaster O'Neil's office. I have a class to finish."

Madam Chase went back inside, leaving me standing there in disbelief. I sunk to the floor and cried as quietly as I could, overwhelmed with grief and disbelief. There wasn't much left of class, but I was already getting expelled so I didn't have much left to lose.

Class ended not long after, and Bree came and sat down beside me. She didn't say anything for a full minute (a record for her).

"I'll walk with you to Headmaster O'Neil's office," she offered softly.

I nodded and got up. Bree looped our arms together. "This school is stupid anyway," she said cheerily. "I think your new school will be even better."

I didn't feel up for talking and just smiled sadly at her. We got to the office and stood outside for a minute. "Don't get expelled," Bree stated.

It was too late for that, but I nodded anyway. Just as I reached for the door it opened. The Aceys came out, giving me smug smiles as they passed. A second later Madam Chase stepped out.

She opened her mouth to say something to me but her focus drifted behind me. Just as I was about to turn around, Bree let out an ear splitting scream and collapsed on the ground beside me.

"What the hell," I gasped. Looking down I saw Bree with several large spines sticking out her back, all of them oozing blood.

Madam Chase grabbed me by my arm and practically threw me against the wall. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. It was a hideous and gigantic monster, with the face of a snarling and hideous man, the body of a lion, and what looked like a scorpion tail.

"I didn't think I'd see you again," Madam Chase said.

"No cliffs to jump off of today, huh?"

"Guess I'll just have to destroy you without one," she countered.

It was the strangest encounter ever.

"I'm not here for you," the monster stated. "I want the young halfbloods."

"Oh you aren't taking orders from teenagers anymore?"

"I'm done entertaining the old woman you couldn't defeat me when she was fourteen."

Then the monster charged me. I screamed but was never attacked. When I opened my eyes I saw Madam Chase with her white sword, fighting the monster even more skillfully than she had fought the metal ladies.

It was a lot to watch at once. Madam Chase was good, sure, but this new monster was better. I stood frozen in fear for a few minutes, before realizing that I could escape unharmed if I ran away right then and there.

Except when I tried to run, Madam Chase chose that moment to turn around to me. She was sweaty and disheveled and a little bloody. She grabbed me by the arm and ran. I could hear the monster running behind us too, but knew that I'd just slow myself down if I tried to turn back and look.

We burst through the double doors and into the teacher parking lot. Madam Chase stopped and turned slightly, then grabbed me around my waist and picked me up. I shrieked in surprise; she tossed me over her shoulder then continued running. The monster was only a few paces behind us and quickly closing the distance.

The next thing I knew, Madam chase had let me fall into the backseat of what I presumed was her car. She jumped into the driver's seat, started the engine and threw the car into drive just as the creature pounced on the trunk. I flew back against the seat and Madam chase swerved hard, practically doing donuts in the semi-crowded parking lot until the monster flew from off and slammed into a few other cars.

I never thought I'd end up in the back of Madam Chase's car as she broke every speed limit imaginable. I couldn't get any sense of composure. We were swerving through traffic and practically limiting off the ground every once in a while. I managed to sit up enough to peer out the back windshield, seeing the monster still hot on our trail.

"What is that thing!" I shrieked. "And why is it chasing us!"

"That thing," Madam Chase said through gritted teeth, "is a manticore. We've got some bad blood and shit."

"Oh my god," I muttered.

This had to be some weird dream or hallucination. I just wanted to crawl in my bed and stay there forever—there was too much excitement in one day and I have no idea where I was being taken, why I was being hunted by a 'manticore', or what happened to Bree.

Madam Chase swerved hard and I slammed against the door. The manticore jumped onto the top of the car and made a dent: I screamed but had nowhere to go. Something sharp and grey and dripping slime green pierced the roof of the car. Madam Chase glanced at it and cursed under her breath.

In the next second, Madam Chase drove her car off a pier and into a lake. Water rushed in from the incision in the top. Then she got out of her seat and broke through the windshield, climbing out and disappearing. And ultimately leaving me in the sinking car.


	4. drowning

The last thing I remembered was drowning.

It was a terrible feeling. The car sunk under the water and Madam Chase was nowhere to be found. The doors were jammed and my only escape would've been the destroyed windshield—if the roof of the car had caved in enough to block me from getting there.

The car filled up with water fast, and I was completely submerged within minutes. I couldn't only hold my breath for so long before there was more carbon dioxide than oxygen in my blood and my gasping reflex was trigger. I inhaled so much water it burned my throat. I felt like I was screaming and gasping and crying all at once. Then I blacked out.

I was in some long river boat and a dark and eternally creepy place. There were others with me—old and wrinkled people, young people with holes in their chests and heads, people missing body parts that seemed essential. And there was Bree, sitting across from me. She was still in her uniform that had wide holes in the shirt, and was sitting with her hands folded in her lap.

At the back of the boat was a tall hooded figure, like the grim reaper. I couldn't see the face under its hood. Instead I turned and peered over the edge of the boat. It was incredible polluted with junk, and seemed to be emanating wistful words—lost dreams and broken wishes.

I felt something pull at my wrist from the river. I lurched off the boat and splashed in water—only it wasn't the water in the river. It looked like I was at the bottom of the ocean. It felt like I was being strangled and tortured, unable to breath and every muscle in my body screaming at me to go up for air.

Then the ocean drained in a burst, as did every drop of water I had swallowed.

I woke up and vomited on the riverbank. It was mostly water but also bile and some digesting food. My eyes and nose and throat burned in the worst way possible. I couldn't even keep my eyes open long enough, the urge to cry and scream settled as I finished expelling my guts. Someone wrapped their arms around me from behind, their hands pressing into my torso roughly. I choked on more water being brought up, not wanting to feel the burning in my throat again.

"You gotta get it all out," a man said in my ear. It was freaky but still somehow soothing, like a loving father or older brother.

The water forced its way up and I let it pour out of my mouth. After what felt like an eternity of burning pain, it was over. The guy who was pushing down on my stomach eased up and pulled me away from the river bank, letting me lie down in the grass. I groaned between pants, closing my eyes so I wasn't staring at the sun.

"We gotta get her inside, Percy." That was Madam Chase. "Get her in some dry clothes. Check her for wounds."

"Nectar? Ambrosia?"

Madam Chase groaned slightly. "Yeah. Hopefully she doesn't spontaneously combust."

I opened my eyes in panic. Before I could say anything I was hoisted up in a fireman's carry. Percy—as Madam Chase had called him—carried me for what felt like ten or fifteen minutes until we got to the back porch of what I was assuming was his house.

"Bathroom," Madam Chase said from his side.

Percy grunted in response and carried me through the kitchen and into another room—the bathroom. Madam Chase turned on the lights and Percy sat me on the toilet seat.

"Stay with her," Madam Chase instructed. "I'm gonna go get some dry clothes from the basement, and she has a tendency to wander."

Madam Chase left without an answer, leaving the bathroom door opened. I looked up at Percy, the same man who was in my dream earlier. He was attractive in the worst way possible—dark and messy hair, a light stubble dusting dimpled cheeks, eyes as green as the ocean. He was tall and lean—like you'd only know he was built if he were shirtless.

He gave me a smile that made my heart clench. "So you're Addison," he said.

"How do you know my name?" I asked quietly.

"Annabeth talks about you a lot," he said in lieu of explanation. "You're like, her favorite student."

I scoffed. "She's expelling me," I pointed out. "Or she was. Now I'm here…after being chased by some monster." I glanced up at Percy and asked, "Am I high? Have I died or something?"

Percy shook his head. "Not high, not dead. You're not exactly safe, but you are safer here with both of us instead of just Annabeth."

Madam Chase reentered the bathroom, passing me a pile of clothes. "Get out, Seaweed Brain," she said.

He just smiled fondly and kissed her cheek on his way out. "I'm gonna finish up on dinner."

Madam Chase closed the door behind him and instructed me to change my clothes. All my muscles screamed in protest; my torso ached and flared with pain. Once I got off my soaked uniform shirt I saw why: there were claw marks running along my sides and wrapped all around my back. They weren't bleeding but instead just red and slightly swollen. I couldn't even remember getting hit by the beast, but with everything that had happened I just passed it off as missed by too much adrenaline.

"Fuck," Madam Chase muttered under her breath. She glanced up at me and said, "Um, don't worry. You won't die or anything."

That meant there was a chance I was going to die today (even after escaping a monster and coming back from drowning).

"Teachers aren't supposed to curse," I muttered offhandedly. Her being my teacher was the only shred of reality I counted on at this moment.

"Addison, we've got much bigger problems then me being within my job description," she stated pointedly. She went through her medicine cabinet for a second before producing a sack of golden granola bars. "Chew on this," she told me, breaking off a small piece. "It should make you feel a little better."

"Teachers aren't supposed to give their students drugs," I muttered. I took it anyway and placed it on my tongue slowly. It tasted like freshly baked brownies melting in my mouth.

"It's not drugs, and if it makes you feel better you don't have to think of me as your teacher."

I raised an eyebrow at that.

"I'm Annabeth Chase," she stated. "I'm a demigod. And so are you."

* * *

"So Annabeth told you that you're a demigod."

"Yep."

"And you don't believe her."

"Nope."

"So you don't believe her, yet you listened when she told you to get in my car?"

"Yep."

"Do you know where we're going?"

"Nope."

Percy laughed lightly. "I don't advise getting into cars with grown men whom you don't know, Addison," he said. "And anyway, I'm taking you to Long Island."

I just hummed in response.

"You aren't gonna ask why?"

I shook my head. The way I saw it, I had no idea what was going on. If this was their plan of kidnapping me and selling me to some creep across the Atlantic, then it was very elaborate and I might as well follow through with it. And if anything Madam Chase—Annabeth—had said we're true, then I'd rather take my chances with the creep across the Atlantic.

Annabeth said I was a demigod. One of my parents was a mortal and one was a god—and probably a greek god too. The only god who could possibly be my parent would be Hephaestus, considering he was freakish just like me. I didn't mention that to her though, considering she didn't know about the wig (which I was surprised to still have on, with the whole drowning thing).

Her and her boyfriend were demigods—he a son of Poseidon and she the daughter of Athena. Then she told me that they'd spent summers growing up training to fight monsters like that manticore that had attacked us. Then we left the bathroom, ate some dinner, and left. Annabeth took a car and went back to campus, and Percy was taking me to 'Camp Half-Blood.'

"Trust me, you'll be safe there," Percy told me. "And it's good you're going now. There's barely anyone there during the school year, just the kids who can't or don't have a home to go back to. Only a handful there, so you can have some time to get used to life there."

"Excuse me?" I asked, "I'm never going home?"

Percy shrugged. "You've already been expelled from school, which I know sucks. I got expelled from six schools in six years. But I digress. Annabeth is going to talk to your parents. But for now, you'll stay at camp. If you aren't claimed, you'll be in the Hermes cabin."

I raised an eyebrow at that, which Percy saw in the corner of his eye. "The campers are split by their godly parents. And campers who's godly parents haven't claimed them—that is, your godly parent letting the world know that you're their kid—go to the Hermes cabin. Because Hermes is the god of travelers and shit, so his cabin is very…'hospitable'."

I hummed in response. We drove in silence for another hour, Percy mostly just humming to himself and tapping his fingers or shaking his leg. He was antsy already, but definitely not as much as I was. Long car rides sucked—being trapped in the car, unable to move or get up and walk around or do virtually anything messed with my ADHD.

"We're gonna take a break in Manhattan," Percy told me another half hour later. "I'm gonna visit my mom, get some food and stretch."

"How much longer will that be?"

"Two and a half hours." My face must have shown how much I hated that time estimate, because Percy just laughed. "You can play with the radio if you'd like, music always helps my ADHD."

* * *

"What happened to Bree?"

"Who's Bree?"

"She's my friend," I said. "She was caught in the crossfire with that thing—the Manticore."

Percy shrugged. "She probably died."

 _I'm just kidding Addison! Everything going on right now is fake and your only friend isn't dead!_ Said no one ever.

* * *

"How often do you go to…Camp Half-Blood?"

"I try to go as little as possible," Percy explained. "It's a six hour drive, a lot of gas. Annabeth's in school and a teacher so you know we don't have a lot to be spending. Plus, they pay firefighters and teachers about the same. It was a lot to get a place by water."

I nodded. "How did you and Madam Chase—I mean Annabeth—meet?"

"At camp."

I raised an eyebrow at that. "So you're saying I can get a boyfriend at this camp?"

Percy snorted. "Sure, if you don't die in combat."

I could've gotten whiplash by how fast my head whipped around. " _What!_ "

 _Percy laughed heartily. 'I'm just kidding, wildly impressionable fourteen-year-old girl! You won't die here!'_ So that didn't happen.

"I can die there?" I asked.

Percy shrugged. "You can die anywhere, Addison. If I were to drive off this road, I could kill you."

I rolled my eyes. "There's fighting to the death? Like, not until I surrender? I can't just say I don't wanna fight anymore?"

"Everything will be explained once we get there," Percy stated. "Just sit still and be quiet. Maybe I can get us there faster."

"Why can't you just tell me?" I groaned. "It's always 'later' with adults. I asked you now, which means I want to know. _Now_."

"Look, okay," Percy said, then sighed. "I didn't _want_ to be a halfblood. I didn't want to be a hero seeking praise. Being a halfblood is scary and mostly gets you killed in very nasty ways. It sucks in every way possible, but you can't change it, okay? Going to camp is your best bet and survival, so suck it up."


End file.
